The Commission today has adopted a Communication
establishing the EU's positions on what needs to be achieved at this year's
World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC-07) of the International
Telecommunication Union (ITU). At this conference, the world's 191 countries
will decide how they will share the radio spectrum, notably for important
application sectors, such as mobile communications, broadcasting and air
transport, for which European interests are at stake.

"The efficient and coordinated management of the radio spectrum is
fundamental for the development of wireless technology and therefore for a
dynamic Information Society," said Viviane Reding, the EU's Telecoms
Commissioner. "The EU therefore needs to further its interests in the global
negotiations on the use of this scarce resource ".

In its Communication of today, the Commission highlights a number of EU
objectives that Member States negotiating at WRC-07 should achieve,
including:

Accommodating the spectrum demands of future terrestrial mobile
systems by upgrading the status of these services in the "UHF band" (470-862
MHz) and by identifying part of the "C band" (3.4 to 3.8 GHz) for these
systems;

Ensuring the effective protection of Earth Exploration and other
scientific services from harmful interference;

Satisfying the necessary spectrum requirements for digital radio
broadcasting and for maritime services in the 4-10 MHz high frequency (HF)
band;

Providing enough spectrum for aviation applications;

Preparing actions to support Community policies for the next WRC Conference
due in 2011, notably concerning spectrum flexibility, climate
change and the Single European Sky.

Background

The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) is a United Nations agency,
which every three or four years holds the World Radiocommunication Conference
(WRC), to update the ITU Radio Regulations, a set of common rules agreed as an
international treaty stipulating how this resource is to be shared globally. The
next conference will be held between 22 October and 16 November 2007 in
Geneva.

EU Member States, as full members of ITU, formally negotiate individually in
the WRC. However, the European technical preparations are undertaken by Europe's
association of spectrum and telecom authorities, CEPT, with policy input from
the European Commission which, together with the EU Presidency, ensures that
Community interests are safeguarded during the negotiations.